NSW:Entertainment Centre set to be razed

Sydney's 28-year-old Entertainment Centre could be demolished next year and replaced with a new complex of the same seating capacity but with better sight lines.

The venue, which has hosted Elton John concerts and basketball games, would be replaced by 2015, under a timetable announced by the NSW government on Friday.

Under the concept plan, the Entertainment Centre and its adjoining car park will be razed and replaced by a new Sydney International Convention and Entertainment Centre with the capacity to hold 12,000 people.

Cox Richardson Architects director Nick Tyrrell, who oversaw the concept plan, said while the capacity was similar, there would be advantages in having a new convention centre.

"The issue is that the existing Entertainment Centre, although it is used once a year for conference-type events, it doesn't have the sight lines, the seating arrangements that you really want for a major conference," he told reporters on Friday outside an industry forum.

Tourism Minister George Souris said NSW had lost $400 million worth of conference business during the past decade, because it lacked convention centre capacity.

But he declined to say if he wanted a new centre to hold bigger crowds.

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"When the expressions of interest come, we'll see what we have to chose from. We can wait a few months to see what industry itself has to offer."

A road separating the existing Entertainment Centre from Darling Harbour could also be built over or closed, so the new building links with the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Planning Minister Brad Hazzard said the government would consider whether to close Pier Street or put it underground, so the centre also links seamlessly with nearby Tumbalong Park.

The new convention centre would be built as part of a private public partnership, where the government could possibly provide the land for free on the proviso a company covers the cost of building the centre.

Expressions of interest open in September with tenders to be called two months later.

The government plans to award a tender in July 2012 before construction begins in September 2012.